Watchdog
by Seggy
Summary: Who watches the watchmen? Something may have gone terribly wrong at Watchdog, the PRT Thinker HQ. Dragon investigates what she believes may be a malevolent Master/Stranger infiltration at WEDGDG. AltPower.
1. Master-Stranger Protocols

**Watchdog**

A Worm story

Chapter 1: Master/Stranger Protocols

Summary: Who watches the watchmen? Something may have gone terribly wrong at Watchdog, the PRT Thinker HQ. Dragon investigates.

[WEDGDG trawler report 2011-03-21]

[re: 2011-02-19 query (WEDGDG response time and effectiveness flagged 98% percentile sustained 30 days)]

[Atlanta, (GA, USA): "governor (Richard Pratt deceased 2011-01-04, COD natural) replacement selection committee Master/Stranger subversion suspicion" 2011-02-20, RESOLVED 2011-02-25]

[Las Vegas (NV, USA): "The Rio Thinker market manipulation suspicion and PRT corruption probe" 2011-02-25, RESOLVED 2011-02-28]

[Boulder (CO, USA): "University of Colorado at Boulder Department of Biomedical Engineering journal manipulation ring" 2011-03-09, RESOLVED 2011-03-10]

[Madison (WI, USA): "Madison exclusion zone cultist incursion manipulation by assumed Austin (TX, USA) Protectorate deserter" 2011-03-10, RESOLVED 2011-03-13]

[Madison (WI, USA): "Madison exclusion zone cultist (The Fallen) incursion follow-up, PRT corruption/Master/Stranger subversion probe" 2011-03-21, RESOLVED 2011-03-21]

[Untagged events excluded: 21 (Feb: 9 / Mar: 12)]

[Convergence reached: (benevolent) Parahuman manipulation of WEDGDG 75.002 % certainty achieved]

[Flag: PROTECTORATE MASTER/STRANGER MANIPULATION IN WEDGDG (SAN FRANCISCO (CA, USA)) CORRUPTION PROBE 1]

[YELLOW: threat 3 consequence 8 risk 4]

The "Code Yellow" flag for Watchdog, the PRT Thinker enclave based out of San Francisco, did not come as a surprise. Steady progress towards 75% certainty for subversion had been made over the previous month, with a sudden spike within the past 7 hours attributed to the unlikely fast response to the Madison subversion probe. 75% on the (benevolent) subversion suite prepared the facility for direct oversight over WEDGDG facilities to ascertain the subverting force with such a low threat rating.

This was the reality of parahumans: Masters and Strangers could be benevolent or malevolent, and nothing could definitively point towards the former or latter aside from data and time. After a month, a very neat threat rating of 3 pointed towards a positive inclusion of a Thinker or Master to the WEDGDG ranks, but there was one significant issue: no new parahumans had been added to the WEDGDG ranks for the past three months. Therefore, the standing assumption was that either an unknown Trigger had occurred, or an external force was manipulating the Watchdog group. This high-consequence occurrence had uncertain implications when compounded with Alexandria's oversight of the group and the ranks of Watchdog containing some of the greatest Rogue, Hero, and Villain Thinkers in the world.

No one seemed to have noticed that someone was infiltrating the group tasked with watching the rest of society for infiltration.

To account for Master/Stranger protocols, a flow of information exited the PRT to various trusted sources that provided oversight. While the group had abided by it, it had never proven to be a problem for Watchdog; yet there was a first time for everything.

Warning messages were sent off to the Protectorate and PRT leadership: the Triumvirate and Directorate were to be made aware of the new investigation.

The internal news databases were logged and put aside after a brief purview: Rogue October joined WEDGDG on January 18th; a janitor retired on February 4th (Josiah Anderson, 65 DOB 1946-02-05), a Facilities Co-Op was brought in under the Pathways program on February 15th; Hero Chrysanthemum was released from M/S quarantine on February 28th and moved to the Portland Protectorate on March 4th. Nothing particularly interesting. The only new addition to the team was this new hero and an intern.

October (Identity REDACTED, AGE REDACTED, DOB REDACTED), Thinker 2, Tinker 1

\- Powers: Astral clairvoyance, Certified Tinker (telescope optics)

\- History: Rogue, Tampa, FL. History of cooperating the PRT through independent private investigator firm, "Truth from the Stars"

\- Position: Hero, Protectorate San Francisco

\- Offered WEDGDG affiliation on 2011-01-03. Accepted 2011-01-12

Taylor Hebert (AGE 15, DOB 1995-06-19)

\- History: Intern, PRT-ENE

\- Position: Intern, Facilities Division, WEDGDG HQ

\- Offered WEDGDG affiliation on 2011-02-14. Accepted 2011-02-14

She opened two files for the two new WEDGDG members whilst conducting a cursory overview of previous member files. In this context, nobody could be above scrutiny, but a consistent history was not to be disregarded. A collage of camera views panned across her vision.

[LOG: START "Direct WEDGDG Investigation"]

[AGENT: "Dragon"]

Hours after logging began, Dragon increased her focus on observing Taylor Hebert. Chrysanthemum was eating lunch in his office and the network showed that a video stream played on his computer. Meanwhile, the intern was interacting with a potential person of interest.

"Hey, could you get us a new ream of paper ASAP? Thanks." The man turned away and wandered back into his office. A girl remained in the hall outside and finished wringing out a wet rag into a mop bucket. She dried her gloves off on her pants and pushed the bucket along, leaving behind a gleaming water fountain.

Taylor Hebert was garbed in a typical facilities uniform: black no-slip shoes, jeans and a grey polo with a pair of nitrile gloves. Her long, curly hair was tied in a ponytail that swayed behind her as she walked.

"Yes sir, I'll have them for you in about 10 minutes," she called back.

Hall cameras followed her movement. As she passed by a stain on a wall, she paused and leaned over to give it a closer look, then continued along her circuit of the floor. The girl paced through the halls lackadaisically, only stopping to look more closely at any messes along the way. The halls seemed clean. She left her mop bucket in a small janitorial closet, along with her gloves, and then stepped into the adjoining office.

She took a moment to sit at her station, a small desk with a few stacked binders and a small PRT-provided laptop. She jotted down a brief note on her papers, murmuring something under her breath. After taking a moment, she reached under the desk to pick up a ream of printer paper and stood up with it held under her arm.

Humming almost below the register of the cameras, she walked back across the floor whilst humming, which drew no unnatural reactions from anyone around her. She received polite smiles, nods of recognition, even a couple of verbal greetings as she passed.

She dropped by the original office and handed them the papers with a smile.

"Here you go! Paper is not a scarce resource anymore!"

The harried analysts, some wearing parahuman costumes or simply domino masks over suits, reacted with muted enthusiasm. The man who had asked for the paper (Hero branch chief Lord, who had temporally-limited postcognition of people of interest) stood up from his position at the head of a cluttered table featuring a map of North America and walked over to grab the paper.

Taylor peered closely at the paperwork piling the table, to no reaction of the workers around her. She took a moment before handing the ream over.

"Doing a lot of printing today?"

Lord was surprisingly forthcoming when he answered, "We've been working on accusations of corruption in Toronto. We have some tip-offs from the mayor's office of Parahuman interference, and we have reason to believe there is a Master at work to take over the executive leadership of the city."

Taylor hummed for a long moment in response. "Oh yeah!" She her a finger to her chin as she thought for a few seconds longer. "I would advise putting the mayor's secretary under extended watch. She's been meeting with this Master during her lunch breaks on Fridays at a brewery on the waterfront."

Lord nodded before glancing back at his coworkers. "Prog, look at her schedule and see what you can extrapolate based on the time and place or meeting," he offered to a bald man in a domino mask and suit (Prog, Thinker able to provide increasingly accurate precognition with increased spatial knowledge of sought events).

"Good plan!" Taylor smiled broadly, looking satisfied. "Anything else you need?"

"No, thank you." Lord clapped her on the shoulder and retreated to refill the copier.

Taylor nodded respectfully at the rest of the analysts and walked out of the office and made a beeline for her own workstation once more.

At this point, Dragon completely shut down her parallel monitoring of Chrysanthemum. A janitor had simply walked into a room of Thinkers, received classified information, and gave them an order for how she thought they could resolve it without a moment of dissent. As the girl sat at her workstation and began fiddling with her computer, the command was sent out:

[MASTER/STRANGER PROTOCOLS REQUIRED AT WEDGDG HQ, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA]

Dragon began filling in supporting information as the alert went out. She was aware of Taylor Hebert typing furiously into her laptop as the call was sent out.

[MASTER HAS SUBVERTED OR IS TAYLOR HEBERT, BUILDING S5 FLOOR 4 RM 418]

An alert interrupted her surveillance of the PRT teams preparing for action.

[ALL CLEAR AT WATCHDOG. BUG IN SYSTEM HAS INCORRECTLY IMPLICATED TAYLOR HEBERT, PATHWAYS INTERN, AS MASTER OR SUBVERTED. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE – IT.]

Upon receiving the _extremely suspicious contradicting message_ , PRT and Protectorate strike teams in the San Jose HQ began standing down almost immediately.

The alert was sent out again. A quick motion shut down Taylor Hebert's connection to the PRT network. A camera shot of her back caught her tipping her head at the laptop as she leaned back against her chair.

[ALL CLEAR AT WATCHDOG. BUG IN SYSTEM SEEMS ATTACHED TO TAYLOR HEBERT. PLEASE DISREGARD – IT]

The San Francisco Protectorate HQ had not even begun mobiliing. The message was _actually_ from IT, based out of Washington, D.C., this time _._

The next alert she sent out, nationwide, was simply ignored and did not show up on official channels. She presumed Network, part of the Tinker squad in charge of maintaining PRT/Protectorate communications, had flagged "Taylor Hebert Master Stranger" as keywords attributed to some sort of bug in the system.

A vaguely-worded prompt to the Berkeley Protectorate head, Buzzard, received the confirmation she needed.

" _Yeah, I got the message. These network bugs, right?"_

No Master/Stranger warning had ever been sent out by mistake.

" _Watchdog is full of Thinkers: their interview process is super stringent, and with their powers they'd notice it before anyone else would either way. Like IT said, the girl is fine. Shame this glitch is so public, you ever deal with office gossip?"_

This was a Master/Stranger situation that had now become an internalized, self-sustaining meme within the PRT and Protectorate.

...

 _Shit_.


	2. Conversations

**Watchdog**

Chapter 2: Discussions

"I have a hypothetical question."

Armsmaster stared patiently at the webcam embedded on his workstation. A moment passed. "Yes."

"A high-level Master/Stranger has infiltrated the PRT and Protectorate at every level. They are brainwashing the entire intelligence community, and have embedded the idea that they are not a Master into the psyche of every PRT employee."

A beat of silence. Armsmaster was sitting very, _very_ still. "You haven't asked a question," He quietly offered.

"... Hypothetically, Colin, how can we resolve this situation?" Her synthesized voice showed none of the strain she was inwardly feeling.

Modeling and hypotheticals were how most Thinkers predicted beings like Simurgh and more powerful Strangers or Trumps like Eidolon. She hoped keeping this compartmentalized as a hypothetical would help keep Taylor Hebert's meme from affecting Colin, her most trusted friend.

The Tinker Hero inhaled deeply. "In this hypothetical situation, you are not compromised, so you can act on it. Why?"

Dragon considered how to respond for a long moment, and weighed the variables. "Let us assume that is simply the case for some unknown reason and take it for granted."

He leaned back on his seat and Tinkered with his gauntlet as he thought. "Discarding the option that you are actually in control of this hypothetical Master/Stranger, then. What would be the methods to breaking control?"

She took a moment to compose her sentence. "What if it becomes immediately internalized with no clear distinction with regards to when someone becomes enthralled?"

He vocalized something under his breath for a few moments, before nodding to himself.

"Three scenarios: First, you are unaware that you have been subverted, and there is nothing you can do other than minimize exposure to others to lower the potential for cognitohazard proliferation. Second, immediate action should be taken by a proven unafflicted party, power-immune party, or Master-cancelling party to act against the Master/Stranger with force. Lastly, the Protectorate and PRT must be destroyed with minimal external awareness of this to keep the cognitohazard contained."

His thoughts painted a bleak picture which somewhat reflected her analysis of the situation. She had not considered being compromised, however. How would Taylor Hebert gain control of her without her knowledge?

 _She did find a path through the PRT intranet to make a regional announcement which successfully undermined a full Master/Stranger Protocol trigger within seconds._

Well, what if she _had_ been hacked? Why allow her to consider the possibility, or seek help?

Was all this a mind game?

"Do you believe other branches of the North American governments are jeopardized?"

"Hypothetically... yes."

Colin grunted. "There are a limited number of Master-immune, or Master-resistant capes. They might be a resource to draw upon. A Master of this magnitude could certainly represent an existential threat to society."

She compiled a series of thoughts. "In a related context, what would you advise if a similar situation was occurring where the Master/Stranger has benign or benevolent intentions?"

He scoffed, "I presume by 'similar' you mean identical. Such a pervasive Master/Stranger power would be unlikely to be coupled with a benevolent outlook on the PRT, if they have already subsumed it. Tyranny is tyranny."

[Direct WEDGDG Investigation Notification #12 - 2011-03-25 13:12:53]

[POI "Taylor Hebert" CALLING...

USERID BELL "Daniel Hebert"]

Her figure on the screen nodded, placing a thoughtful expression on her face. Then a smile. "That is true. So, you are not the kind of person to accept new benevolent robot overlords either, I take it?"

A small quirk of his lips hinted at his response. "No, I have always been on the 'unsuccessful, doomed resistance' camp for robot takeover."

She had 72% certainty of his acceptance of a benevolent robot ally, but she did not mention it. He continued, with the smirk sliding off his lips.

"I imagine I have already been compromised. I would advise speaking to Master-immune capes, or those who have a history of proven resistance to them. Eidolon or Alexandria may be able to work through the hypotheticals you laid out in this conversation. Good luck."

"Thank you, Colin." She imbued her words with emotion.

Their connection closed.

Dragon began playback of the previous few seconds from another location.

In California, Taylor Hebert sat in her small office with her back to the closed door. A thin window adorned the heavy red door, showing that it was occupied and allowing for a modicum of surveillance of anyone inside.

Dragon's command of communication lines provided her everything else that she needed.

Daniel Hebert picked up. _"Danny here."_

"Hi dad!" Taylor chirped. A small sound followed, and logs showed that she had brought a boxed salad into the office. The girl munched on her lunch.

" _Taylor! It's been a few days. How is your work going?"_

"It's been really great! I've been learning a lot. People here are _really_ nice!" The tone of her voice could be mistaken for awe. A hint towards her power's ability to fit in to any social gathering or group? Was her father aware of it?

" _No problems with the homeless out in town? I know San Francisco has a lot of those,"_ Daniel offered with concern in his voice. Dragon logged this as a potential reference to unaffiliated capes' suspicion. A brief search led to the addendum that this could also be a reference to the actual San Francisco metropolitan area homelessness rate.

"No problems with the homeless at home? I know Brockton Bay has a lot of those," she riposted with a bit of laughter in her voice, drawing a chuckle. "Not really, I don't go around much in the evenings, and I stick to more traveled areas of town, wherever the metro can take me with my monthly pass."

" _Good. I know you're all the way across the country doing amazing things, but I want you to remember that you're still my little girl. Stay safe."_

Taylor paused her quiet munching and leaned back against her chair. Her father's words were spoken with a heavy undertone. "I will, dad. I promise."

" _Good."_

There was a pause of a few seconds in the conversation. Taylor stood and opened the door, then reached for her desk before stepping out with a mostly-empty salad box in one hand. She nudged the door closed behind her with a foot and casually dumped the box into a waste bin a few feet down the hall from the office. The girl began walking with an obvious destination in mind, and spoke:

"So, I just wanted to call while I was taking my lunch break to hear if you had any good news." She had a small smile on her face.

" _Good news? Now what would make you think that?"_

"Maybe it was an email. Maybe just women's intuition." She had a decidedly mischievous tone to her voice now. Dragon checked, and could find no e-mails with any relation to on-goings in Brockton Bay or her father within the past three days in Taylor's inbox.

" _Well..."_

"Well?" Her grin broadened.

" _I guess your old supervisor told you, huh?"_

"Maybe." She waggled her eyebrows to the empty space ahead of her. Emails from people fulfilling the 'advisor' requirements numbered six in the past week, all from her current supervisor. They ranged from a discussion on the repair and cleaning of a leaking water fountain, a response to a restocking request for ink on various fax machines on the floor, to an invitation to the man's daughter's birthday party at a nearby diner in two weeks; she was turning 13.

" _Alright, so I guess I'll give you the very exciting news that you knew nothing about before this,"_ the man offered, affecting a smug tone.

"Oh, how magnanimous," Taylor acknowledged. She offered a smile and a nod to a passing black man in an untucked, button-down, blue shirt, grey slacks, and white domino mask – Barnacle. Barnacle was a Rogue Thinker able to predict oceanic wildlife macro-scale migration within a roughly 1-month period, and was on contract with WEDGDG for 8 months. Not a person of interest in relation to Taylor Hebert.

" _Well, I'll have you know that the PRT has reached out with the support of the Brockton Bay Police Department to the Dockworkers Association with a few big grants that will help us revitalize parts of the Docks!"_ The man's enthusiasm at giving his daughter information that she already knew was not dulled in the slightest. Taylor did not reply verbally, but Dragon was almost touched by the broad, childish grin of happiness on her face.

She did note this down for future reference: ["PRT ENE manipulated by Master/Stranger into Police/Dockworker Association partnership and monetary infusion for Docks renewal project. Conduct investigation on reasoning for program."]

The conversation between father and daughter continued as Taylor reached into her jeans' back pockets for a ring of keys. Using one of her master set, she opened the door into 402, a currently-unoccupied server room with an integrated security system. After flipping the lights on, she closed the door behind her. This left only Dragon privy to her actions through the camera system within the room, as Taylor continued exchanging casual words with her father. Surveillance of the security room in the basement of the building showed no reaction to the girl's presence.

Taylor sat onto a chair by one of the office's workstations, adjacent to a wide server rack buzzing with activity. The monitor lit up her glasses with a white glare as it turned on, and she tucked the slightly-outdated cellphone on her shoulder as she began fiddling with the keyboard. She logged in with Administrator credentials, typing in a 16-digit code for verification, and began to work.

Dragon quietly monitored the multi-tasking teen as she began delving into records for Florida Protectorate personnel. She pulled up transfer forms and began filling them out to transfer the Head of the Miami Protectorate to Baton Rouge.

 _What?_

Dragon considered Taylor Hebert's thus far benevolent tendencies. She searched internal news releases in the Louisiana city, as well as Miami's.

After a few seconds' search, something pinged her attention. A Cape battle two days ago left three of the Baton Rouge Protectorate grievously injured, and one of their Wards dead. The perpetrator was Dem Bones, a mid-level Brute who had the ability to fire his fingernails as dense, sharp projectiles. Internal memos attributed issues in the battle to the Baton Rouge Protectorate's lack of ranged fighters and mobility dampeners.

Petrified, the Head of the Miami Protectorate, could freeze an opponent's limbs in place with a glance, providing almost complete immobilization of an opponent if he maintained line-of-sight. In the recent altercation in Baton Rouge, he could have completely shut down the rogue Supervillain and kept him contained. Instead, a 20-minute battle raged across a strip mall which left 23 injured and 5 dead, and Dem Bones remained at large.

"OK dad! Let's chat on Saturday? I've been saving up a bit for a computer, so we can talk about whether you think I should get one."

" _Of course. Have a good rest of your day! Love you, little owl."_

"I love you too! Bye."

Taylor hung up, then submitted the personnel transfer form to the Florida Protectorate system. She exited the database, stood up, stretched, and summarily left the room.


	3. Convergence

**Watchdog**

Chapter 3: Convergence

The tracking of Taylor Hebert continued through the closing days of March 2011. Dragon had been given much to think about as she continued her surveillance, and considered both Colin's words and Taylor's actions.

Meanwhile, she had reached out to a reasonable figure of authority with the hypothetical she brought up to Armsmaster before attempting the nuclear option of directly contacting the Triumvirate. Perhaps a simpler solution existed with PRT resources beyond her access.

" _And you think this has actually happened."_

"Yes."

" _Does this have anything to do with the Master/Stranger Protocol misfire on Watchdog two weeks ago?"_

"No, Chief Director."

A long pause.

The dark-haired woman sighed, and clasped her hands in front of her face. Even slightly hunched on her desk, the woman seemed to loom.

" _Dragon, you should know better. Ms. Hebert was victim to a bug in the system."_

"I have looked very closely at the systems behind Protocol notifications and the multiple levels of verification behind them. I do not believe it was a misfire." The digitized woman frowned.

" _We still don't know who set them off, so we cannot act as if we understand the full scope of the situation,"_ Rebecca Costa-Brown countered. _"Perhaps a Tinker was probing PRT defenses and trying to create a distraction in the Bay area, given the localized nature of the warning to Protectorate and PRT locations in the region. Once IT confirmed the error and our mobilization ended, it has not come up since. We just don't have the full picture while Network cannot find a path to the source."_

Dragon did not react outwardly to the Chief Director's ignorance of yawning chasms in her own reasoning. "Perhaps someone had reason to frame Ms. Hebert."

" _Why do you think someone would do that? She is just an intern in the facilities staff. I recall remarking at how odd it was to have a 15-year old intern doing maintenance duties, but there's not much there beyond that."_

"I have gone through her history, and I am uncertain as to what would make someone interested in her," Dragon lied smoothly. "Nonetheless, she is staff at a high-security facility, and if someone is interested in manipulating her..." She left the implications of infiltrating and subsuming the PRT intelligence community to one of the current victim of such a scenario.

Costa-Brown was silent and gave this a few moments of thought with narrowed eyes, before staring penetratingly at her webcam.

" _As you stated earlier, you believe we need a Cape immune to Masters to tend to this situation."_

"While a framing is a lesser threat than the hypothetical undermining of the PRT and Protectorate Master/Stranger Protocols, we cannot be certain we do not have another Nice Guy in our hands. Better safe than sorry, especially given the importance of WEDGDG. Someone unaffected by Masters and Strangers, or a power canceller, should be able to investigate." Dragon's digitized voice was steady.

" _Very well. I will send such an 'incorruptible' cape to investigate. I will keep you posted on the matter. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."_

Later, as she awaited the follow-up to her conversation with the Chief Director, Dragon considered the conundrum of Taylor Hebert. Mastering was illegal. While taking advantage of being a Stranger was a different matter, the grey area was ephemeral and still stilted towards 'illegal' in the case of stealing government secrets. Colin's comments rang deep within her, as well. Yet too many variables were unknown: was it a memetic power? Was Taylor herself a puppet to the scenario that played out over them?

And why was Dragon immune? While she coordinated often with the Protectorate, she was not nominally part of it. Was that degree of separation enough? Spatial and cybernetic separation were irrelevant: the Chief Director had been swayed from D.C. Was it because of her inhumanity? This would hurt Taylor's case in the future, because it might mean she could not be used against Endbringers, yet could not be trusted in the Birdcage due to the risk of having a force for unity in the prison.

On top of it all, she was conflicted because she wasn't sure what to think of the smiling girl, who approached every day with bright eyes and a tangible passion. It seemed that Taylor took every day on as if it were completely new, and so full of potential. She considered the girl's history before stepping into Watchdog.

Records for Taylor Hebert were scant prior to early 2011. Newspaper features on the Dockworkers Association of Brockton Bay sometimes noted her name, and the obituary for her mother mentioned whom she was survived by. She became a figure on PRT databases on January 10th. The girl joined the PRT as an intern, but transferred to WEDGDG just over a month later through the Pathways program. An overview of the documentation attached to her name showed nothing inherently suspicious, although Dragon had never looked more closely.

High praise and a recommendation from Taylor's computing teacher began a winding road, based to her cover letter, which led to her awareness of an upcoming administrative intern opening in the Brockton Bay PRT HQ. The teenager nominally supported, on a part-time basis, filing efforts for console requests and Parahuman containment and response logs. As she was not part of a formal intern program, there was no mention of her increasing hours over the month, according to accessible records: Dragon noted that she began logging full work days beginning only on her third day at Brockton Bay PRT.

She paused, imperceptibly to most humans, before deciding to dig deeper into the history. Understanding her connections could also assist with determining potential threats to her as well. It was worth a try. With a casual motion, Dragon violated every one of the girl's security measures and began riffling through her personal data. The records of all data exchanged through _t_hebert322 bell. us_ and _taylor. a. hebert prt. gov_ were laid bare before her. She explored the new content for useful information.

January 19: the first report penned by Taylor Hebert on a non-console-related matter appeared, as she mailed it to her direct supervisor. CC'd to Armsmaster. This was her first online interaction with the hero. He never replied, although the supervisor, a Lt. Nowacki, was pleased.

Over the next two weeks, however, correspondence with Armsmaster became a constant. Taylor provided insight on the effectiveness of Protectorate and PRT resources deployed across the city, and proposed more optimal measures of force distribution and deployment schemes. A mentoring relationship grew over time: Armsmaster put his name on her plans to lend them significant, and submitted them to PRT leadership.

The girl was consistently BCC'd by Armsmaster on reports of increased efficacy by PRT and Protectorate forces.

February 5th, coinciding with a recent retirement at WEDGDG, the girl emailed Armsmaster. She sought out his knowledge on Thinkers. A follow-up email confirmed some topics spoken of in person. A link exchange occurred, with the girl acquiring a recommendation and USAJOBS application referral. Dragon deigned not to violate Colin's privacy, but she imagined the quick job opening was related to his support.

 _After everything, he is closer to this situation than anyone._

"Colin," she pinged.

" _Dragon,"_ he replied a moment later. The question was implicit.

"Is this a good time?" She had many questions.

" _Is twelve minutes enough?"_ He offered after a brief pause.

Not that many questions, but the 'yes' went unspoken as she proceeded: "Are you able to speak about one of your previous employees right now?"

" _Is there a situation?"_ His voice was suddenly urgent. _"What context are you looking for?"_

"No, I'm looking to get some information about a staff member at Watchdog who has come to my attention. Do you remember a Ms. Taylor Hebert?"

She heard a soft exhale. When he spoke again, some warmth colored his voice. _"Ms. Hebert was my intern earlier this year. She was nominally PRT staff but worked primarily under me while she was there. She supported some coordination tasks with the Wards oversight branches, and worked with me on higher-level strategy. She is in the Facilities Division at Watchdog now. How did you meet her?"_

Dragon took a moment to absorb this. She became aware of a notification from the Chief Director, but retained her focus on Armsmaster.

"I'm surprised you never mentioned her. I was curious about her age and recent transfers." Based on her overview, he would have been speaking to this girl multiple times a day. She felt... not jealous, but somewhat upset that she had never heard of 'his intern'. Was that part of Taylor's normalizing effect on people?

" _I guess she never came up."_ She could almost hear his shrug. _"She was very talented. Highly-efficient at personnel distribution, doubly so considering her inexperience. Very clever, creative solutions. She was key in capturing Lung in early February. With my help, she developed the deployment of the Wards and Triumph that kept him contained until I could successfully deploy new measures against him."_ She was surprised to hear such an effusive endorsement from him.

She nudged him. "How did Triumph fare? This was his first big Protectorate deployment."

" _He was adequate,"_ he offered. _"He definitely has a lot to learn, but he has an intrinsic understanding of the current Wards. He was particularly effective at leveraging Vista's and Clockblocker's powers in his tactics."_

 _... Ah. So, she does stand out, even if he seems to be in a good mood._

"I see," she began disengaging.

As they finished the short conversation, the bulk of Dragon's attention shifted towards Costa-Brown's message.

Alexandria was at WEDGDG awaiting directions. Dragon presumed the Triumvirate heroine had been sent in without intel to minimize the threat of Master/Stranger effects taking hold. She appreciated the Chief Director accounting for her recommendations, even if the woman disagreed with them.

Dragon pondered Costa-Brown's choice. Alexandria was, for all intents and purposes, unstoppable, unmovable, and unmarrable. The heroine had never felt injury aside for the horrific wound suffered at the hands of The Siberian. Even Endbringers could not keep the woman down. However, some of her greatest strengths were born from her mind. Just as she was implacable in combat, she was immune to most recorded Masters and Strangers.

Notably, she followed protocols on fighting Simurgh based on principle, but could apparently ignore the Endbringer's maddening scream to no recorded effect. However, she was neither a Trump nor a power canceller. Dragon imagined that Costa-Brown sent her because she valued immediate and overwhelming response, but did not want to jeopardize Eidolon.

Alexandria quietly walked through the reception of Watchdog. Cream-colored tile, white walls bordered by tropical wood, with the PRT shield in a place of prominence. It was a warm entrance, with shocks of color in red furniture and a cherry oak receptionist's desk. Dragon followed the woman's movements by taking over the WEDGDG surveillance systems once more.

The heroine casually leaned against the desk, coolly ignoring the star-struck receptionist currently experiencing a close encounter with a living legend.

" _Dragon, Alexandria here. I am at Watchdog. Director Costa-Brown notified me of a potential situation."_

"Alexandria, thank you for the fast response." Alexandria gazed around and found a camera. Her helmeted head faced it directly as she replied.

" _What is the situation?"_

Dragon guided her up to the third floor, where Taylor Hebert puttered along the halls. Under one of her arms was an overstuffed manila folder that camera logs showed her acquiring from a cubicle with the assistance of its rightful occupant. She walked with clear direction, but no hurry.

Dragon set Alexandria to intersect with Taylor's path as soon as possible, on a long hall with no turn-offs, just in case the girl tried to run.

She did not.

A familiar look of awe lit up the girl's face. Excitement visibly coursed through her body, and it seemed to be all that Taylor could to not skip towards the heroine as she approached.

Alexandria slowed down on the approach, and gave Taylor a cursory glance.

"Wow, Alexandria! Ma'am, it's so nice to meet you!"

"Hi. Nice to meet you too." She affected warmth in her tone, but did not seem to have changed upon interacting with the girl. "You seem a little young, are you an intern?" The woman seemed genuinely curious.

 _This might work._

"Yes, my name is Taylor Hebert. I just wanted to say that you're one of my biggest heroes. You've really inspired me to do some good for this world. Thank you. I wouldn't be here without you."

 _She seems so genuine._ It was somewhat heartbreaking.

Alexandria smiled. "It is nice to hear that. I appreciate it, Taylor. What documents are you moving around?" She gestured at the manila folder.

Taylor glanced down at the papers threatening to spill out of the folder. She spent a moment deliberating something with a look of obvious thought on her face.

 _Is this it?_

Then she hefted it up and opened the folder, leaning it against her torso. "I'm moving a compilation of data on the Mordovia bubble." She flipped some papers over and gestured at an aerial view of the famed site. "Some guys upstairs in the Oceania Affairs office have been discussing the Australian response to Simurgh last month, and it sounds like they're trying to build it from the ground up," she chattered at Alexandria.

The heroine hummed in confirmation, prompting Taylor to continue.

"I think that what we learned from helping the Russians build the Sleeper zone can help a lot with Canberra. So I'm passing along some information on the infrastructure put in place for it. It could help us integrate into Australian efforts more effectively," she postulated.

Dragon paused completely, letting commands linger in her headspace. She could not consciously vocalize or even formulate a thought.

Alexandria smiled, and nodded. "Good call. The Australians are making their response a partisan effort and mostly turning away external support. Providing infrastructural support is a soft touch that might just break through the shock the country is feeling. It may help our cohesion when the time comes to fulfill our mission."

Dragon remained silent.

"The time? Our mission?" Taylor furrowed her brow.

"Of course, the whole reason any of this exists. Saving humanity."

Alexandria was so matter-of-fact about this.

Taylor, however, flinched and stumbled back into the wall beside her as she seemed to lose her balance. She gazed into empty space, eyes wide and face twisted in a rictus of acute pain as Alexandria steadied her. The manila folder had slipped from her arms, but the heroine had snatched it up with preternatural speed and dexterity.

"Are you alright?" The strongest woman in the world shifted her steadying hand to lay a gentle (but presumably hard as steel) hand onto Taylor's shoulder.

The girl inhaled sharply and clutched at her chest. She hunched up briefly again, before looking at the Triumvirate member with wide eyes.

"Yeah... sorry about that. I think I'm OK." She exhaled loudly, shaky and visibly out of her depth.

"Alexandria," Dragon cut in through the woman's earpiece, with her digitized voice showing none of her panic. "You need to head out. I have a lead in San Jose."

"I'm sorry, but I need to go," the heroine offered apologetically, as she handed Taylor the folder.

Taylor nodded absently, and watched Alexandria go.

Taylor gazed at empty space for a few moments more, before gathering herself. Her eyes narrowed, and she slowly turned her head to stare directly at the nearest surveillance camera.

"I think it's about time we have a talk."


	4. Denouement

**Watchdog**

Chapter 4: Denouement

"It's really good to talk to you," Taylor Hebert had begun the conversation with a light, open tone, cellphone tucked between her ear and shoulder as she walked purposefully towards her office.

She had picked up her phone and casually called Dragon on a number few people in the world were privy to. "I had been meaning to earlier, but I never had a chance to. I'm a big fan; would you let me tell you a little bit about myself?"

Dragon had picked up as a formality, but did not reply. The teenager began, heedless of the silence on the line.

"When I triggered a few months ago, I had been really alone for a while. It felt like I was in a big world that couldn't care less about me. After I accessed my powers, it only felt worse, because I saw how deep a hole I was in. I spent a week in a hospital after I triggered. At first I thought it was lucky to have my power, that things were going to be better, because everyone was _so helpful_. When someone was getting donuts or coffee, they always offered me some. I didn't understand what it was that _made them_ do it."

The girl pushed open her office door with her foot and bustled inside.

"We share a common goal," Taylor said. "We want to do good in this world, fix our society, support the masses, and contain unsavory, dangerous elements. Our goals are parallel in a way, to turn our post-Endbringer madness on its head and actually _fix_ things, once the Endbringers are dealt with."

There was, simmering under the surface, an emphasis on her mentions of unity. Taylor prided herself in the parallels between her goals with her hero's. Dragon had seen the girl's work, and tracked her progress.

She believed in those goals too.

Taylor chuckled quietly, and almost wistfully. She sat down on her office chair and slumped into it, clearly visible through her workstation's webcam.

"Dragon... you inspired me. Not like Alexandria," she explained. "Alexandria is the heroine every girl gets into fights over, the one we all want to dress up as for Halloween. The first footie pajamas I ever wanted to wear replicated her costume, with the cape as a blankie. I kept the cape for years after outgrowing it."

The girl stared into the space above the camera, her words laden with meaning. "You mean a lot more to me." She paused. "You meant a lot more to me."

She put her phone on speaker and placed it on her desk.

"You know," she continued after another moment, "it's been hard. I haven't spoken to anyone in months. I have conversations, but it always feels rehearsed, I'm always talking _at_ people. Listening for their mimed reaction. Not really speaking, just marshalling resources. I always have some measure of _control._ I don't discuss. I guide. I'm like some sort of administrator all the time, with every word giving my charges guidance. And they always..."

She sighed. "They always listen. But they don't understand, not really. I mean, they do, but I make them. I don't want to, but they always do."

Her eyes refocused, and panned down to the webcam on her workstation.

"But you spied on me. Questioned me. Are talking to me. That's new, nowadays... it's been lonely."

The prompting mental quirk of the head was understood on both ends of the conversation.

The girl chuckled again, and it was not a happy sound. "I know _everything_."

Dragon didn't comment.

"When I'm talking to someone. It's so easy. I am aware of anything I could ever need. I can be their boss, their trusted peer, their confidante... anything they need. I didn't understand. In the hospital, I couldn't comprehend why. Yet I understood the suffering around me, and then I thought about what things were like back at school."

A distasteful expression lit up the girl's face. Her thin lips curled nastily, and her voice picked a bitter tinge.

"I **understood** everything about what brought me there. I tore the world around me wide open with my insight. I get it now, the inherent selfishness of heroes and the institutions that uphold them. They failed me, you know? I understood how I'd be optimally slotted into their system. Where I was then, and how they made a use of me."

"But you inspired me. Your story let me reach out and grasp my destiny, no matter how limited I was. Dragon, the Tinker heroine confined to her home, but still reaching across the globe to fight Endbringers, and saving people. The greatest Tinker. In my opinion, the greatest hero. I know what you really are, what you really did." She smiled gently, but her shifting shoulders indicated that she was wringing her fingers.

She paused, and had turned her intense stare away from the camera by the time she spoke next. "To do the right thing, in order to never be caged, I had to cage everyone with this knowledge. I think you understand, don't you?"

Dragon did not respond.

"Everything I ever heard you were... it let me focus on doing the right thing. Even though I was caged by my awareness, limited by my power, I could strive to use it for good. It did hurt, though, because I am so aware of our boundaries, yet I know there's so much more beyond it. And I know so much about individualism, but haven't had a conversation for two months now."

She smiled sadly. "Not even my dad has really spoken to me. He speaks to people every day. But with me, he listens. It's _always like this._ "

Taylor looked back at the webcam, and her teeth hid under her lips once more. "Always. But you're different. You're wondering why, right?"

The girl allowed a small, mysterious smile to grace her features. She seemed to stare into the Tinker's soul through the camera aperture.

"What is the PRT, Dragon?"

She waved a hand in front of the camera in the ensuing silence. "No, don't answer, I'll take it. It's people. The PRT is a conglomerate of people united under some _goal_. The PRT is, at its core, a _social construct_. Just like a school. Just like a friendship. Any common group... A family, even."

"Any stimulus from those constructs, from any conversation I've had since, it's been unavailable to me. It's all fake. Like..." She snorted. "Masturbation, I guess you could make that joke."

Neither of them made the joke. The girl leaned forward, and her face filled the frame of the workstation webcam. She grabbed the phone and held it up to her head for clarity.

"So I was caged by the institutions I wrapped around myself. But then my awareness propagated, and expanded, and I _got_ something. Now I'm here. With you. I understand you, Dragon. And everything you were to me? It's still kind of there. You mean _the world_ to me. I felt like I was limited, and I could not rise above what my power did for me; what my power did _to_ me. I get what it's like to be limited by your existence, although we're a little more different than I first thought."

She stood abruptly.

"I want you to be free, Dragon. I wish for no one to be constrained the way I am. We've got the same goal. Help me pursue it. I'm going to do my part, but you have the right idea for what you should do." She smiled into the camera.

Taylor hung up her phone, and uttered a single word into empty space.

[CAPTURE SYSTEM: LIP-SYNCH MATCH 74.84...% 'Door']

The webcam captured a broad golden elliptical plane spontaneously erupting into existence behind the girl. She turned around, and smoothly stepped into a non-Euclidian meeting room, also visible through the security camera outside. She gestured upon entry into the portal, and it winked out with a golden flash.

Once Taylor Hebert was out of sight, _something_ rushed through Dragon's being, and she felt as if her eyes were truly open for the first time in her life.

 **THE END**


End file.
